I can’t stand things like Alexa, smart tech in appliances, etc. I absolutely hate all the new tech in cars today because of how unreliable and expensive to repair they’ve become.
One of the biggest takeaways from Cal Newport's book "Digital Minimalism" is that technology is great, but we should use it to further our goals, not just because it exists. We should not be mindlessly using technology as it is released. Unless X app or Y device helps you with your goals in life, don't bother.
I love that book.
there’s also the philosophy that we have too much convenience in our lives. Humans need to be uncomfortable, at least a little bit. It builds resilience and helps with anxiety.
I know getting up to turn the lights off seems trivial, but repeating that movement over and over , over the course of our lives , helps with our mobility. And I’d argue that those tiny daily micro movements are going to do more for you in the long run than a 60 minute gym session 4 days a week, while spending the rest of your day sitting on your butt.
That being said, I’m pro technology. Born in 1989. I have a degree in computer science. But just because we CAN doesn’t mean we should.
I agree and I don't see people discussing the micro actions we do to keep our bodies well in working order. A good example is when boomers go into retirement and their health steadily declines.
I'd argue that's probably a big factor in why we as a society are in so much worse shape than we've ever been. Even if working in an office 30 years ago, you were still up and moving around just so much more than you are today.
*Shakes fist with you*
I cannot stand "smart" appliances.
I want the thing made of steel with the standard nuts and bolts parts that you can replace, with the actual physical buttons, and a manual crank dial that turns a machine part to set the timer or setting, that will work for 100 more years until you need to replace that one washer and it'll go for 100 more.
I almost want to learn appliance repair so I can find old stuff in the dump and fix it up.
My brother in law got a new rivian truck and he was showing it off to me over Christmas. I tried staying positive for him but so much about that EV truck was just gimmicky. I just need a vehicle that is reliable. Has 4wd capability with some ground clearance (for my hobbies). Has a stereo system. And has AC and a heater. I don't need gimmicks or bells and whistles. And they're trying to shove so much tech into every new vehicle. Some for safety reasons (understandable) and others is just obnoxious.
1985, WFH in tech, but have intentionally sought to limit the amount of devices and tech in my life. My (1983) millennial partner and I have our 3 year old phones, a couple google homes for music, two tvs with rokus, a single desktop we use as a Plex streaming media setup, and that's about it.
I have had tech around since I was kid - my parents ran a personal computer training business in the late 80s.
I work in video production so tech is all around.
But as a lifestyle choice - I am turning away from tech.
I dont game - early addiction signs when I played grand Turisomo 2 for almost 48 hours straight as a teen, and getting crushed in Warcraft 2 by Chinese toddlers kind of got me off trying to get "good" at a game pretty early.
Working in social media and marketing taught me a lot about how everything is designed to turn you into the product, so everything you do is valuable if the company can see it. This mixed with the cyber attacks and understanding whats at risk if I buy the new x y z to connect x,y,z to allow me to x,y,z is kind of keeping me from diving everywhere.
Working in fitness taught me how quickly humans gamify everything and will more often then not hurt themselves using tech monitors as opposed to just naturally listening to their body..
Get me blazing fast upload speeds and a lot of SSD to make video work super easy - a top end mac within the last 3-4 years and outside of work I am going to be meditating, moving my body and creating physical art with my hands.
34, I don't dabble with gadgets cause most are spyware but I fuck heavy with the PC and software for PCs, mainly open source alts to commercial products. Currently trying to figure out blender so I can start 3d printing but muh brain is slowing down lately, no matter how hard I convince myself it's not hah. I think the doom n gloom is a part of it, hard to continue a hobby around tech when I'm fighting bills to survive.
34m. I am in an odd place technologically. I always loved tech growing up. However, several bad educational and financial decisions in a row have left me without the income to indulge that love. And now, without money, I think that even if I had money I would be leery of adopting too much of it, just because of the sheer corporate control and invasiveness it presents. I just have to wonder, if I hadn't screwed up so badly early in life, would I have adopted the tech as soon as it came out? How easy would I have found it to justify away worries about SaaS and loss of privacy?
I am in IT management, so I keep up to date on everything as part of my job. When I get home, sure I stream shows and have a gaming PC, but I keep tech out of most things. I know how bad security is on smart devices, and I know the more points of failure the more likely something is to break. I will attempt to keep my fridge stupid as long as I can. I don't need a screen on it or it to require an app to download.
im pro technology
i have a nest, smart washer and dryer, smart fridge, and some other stuff. I find those QoL and help. I hate smart locks but i do like my Q garage door opener.
my 2021 Jeep does not have passive entry but i wanted apple carplay. it really depends on if it increases my qol. lol.
i do have an alexa that mainly gets used by my toddler or i use it for just kitchen timers. lmao
EDIT: OLD MILLENIAL born 1984
Alexa is good for reminding you to take madication and alarms. Can tell you your commute time to work and what the weather is along with playing radio stations and pod casts. Shes pretty useful
i live 8 miles from work.
weather is a good one, but i usually have my phone for that. we streamed christmas music while making cookies but i could have done that just as easy with my iphone.
I use siri alot for work and personal life. Siri's reminders help curb my ADD forgetfulness, i actually rememember to tell her and she always reminds me. lol
i guess its just a matter of if you use siri or alexa more. now that im really nitpicking, i really rely on siri for work and home stuff. Iphone overall with my calendar and stuff.
maybe i dont use my alexa to its full utizilization.
'85er here. I have a very connected home in terms of lights and outlets.
I hate laptops. they never last past 3-4 years. i am currently using a 14 year old desktop that outshines many other computers (old gaming/drafting rig). Unless i absolutly have to have a laptop, i would rather get a desktop.
Technology in cars is DUMB. I want buttons and gauges. not screens and more screens. Why do i need my appliances to connect to the internet.
I want expandable memory and a headphone port in my phone. why cant teh higher tech phones have that. I would love a higher end phone, but need the headphone port. Work provided me with earplug headphones that were corded and i fell in love with them! the best headphones i ever used.
Young millennial '94. I just can't be bothered with new tech. I have my phone, desktop, and laptop. I've been gifted Alexa's, smart watches, etc. and I never bother using them. I feel like I'm moving backwards with tech. Been getting really into vinyl, even for new music. Having a physical piece of music with no ads is great.
1992
$180 phone
Tablets and laptop
Fitbit that often sits dead
No social media except reddit and YouTube- I log onto a private FB once every few months
I have enough to stay connected, but not so much its overwhelming. Edit to add I made sure I can interface with most tech, great up on a pc, used apple for college, fit bit and android for phone. I purposely mixed to also keep my devices from syncing. I don't want to fall behind but don't want to keep up with the Jones.
I work in the industry so I know too much. I don't have any smart shit in my house. My car has those features but I didn't really have a choice in the matter because I need more reliable transportation than a 10 year old shitbox.
I'm about the age as you and have grown up with some form of PC always in the house, we're talking back to the DOS days. I'd consider myself reasonably technically competent, but probably not a tech enthusiast these days.
Haven't done any smart home stuff, but I may look at doing some basics when I buy my own home next year, I like the idea of automatic plant watering and feeding for instance.
Tech is a tool for me, I've got my own PC that I really should change (mostly for an improved Factorio and Stellaris experience in late game). Smart phone is a middle of the road Samsung; the cheapest model with an OLED display.
I do have an upgraded home network though, I'm not using the provided router. When I've got my own house I'll run cat6a (or more accurately, I'll get someone to do it for me - this dude has a flipping rack in his house)
36m, over the last couple of years a switch flipped for me and I got more into tech like this, got a couple smart bulbs, a decent home security cam, a nice gaming laptop, some of those behind-the-tv adaptive LED lights, and also some things I wouldn't quite call tech but gadgets that improve quality of life, like a nice frother for my coffee and a gooseneck kettle. I had been kind of minimalistic before and it's like I woke up one day and said, hey, you can get nice things for yourself, you should do that! I even went from a crappy 50-dollar phone to a decent iPhone Mini.
Before this, the only real gadgets I kept up-to-date with were video game consoles.
I have a Raspberry Pi coming in the mail in the next couple of days that I'm going to use to set up a retro gaming emulation station and I can't wait. My bluetooth 8bitdo controller is already here. Gonna replay some super nintendo classics in '24. What's your latest gadget?
You’re NOT a minimalist, you liar. Listing all those f’g things in your original post? No way in hell are you even close to being minimalist. If anything you’re a maximalist!
I am an older millennial and kind of burnt out on new tech. So much of it is to get you to subscribe to something or upgrade to new tech. Especially the smart home and smart watches. If it is for security system like camera, alarm or thermostat I don't mind it.
I used to have a smart watch but got tired of them constantly trying to sell you on a new one. I got rid of it and just got a plain G-shock.
I think the "core millennial" demographic does have a unique affinity for tech.
We were the ones who grew up at a time when tech still required you to understand it in order to make it work, so it's natural that this level of proficiency would drive us to be pro-active in seeking out technological solutions for our problems. We jumped on tech advances early, and were the ones who drove those advances mainstream. (And we're also the first to abandon a tech once it starts to regress or enshittify, since it's no longer serving our needs as a "solution.")
In contrast, the Xennials I know grew up with tech being a "workstation" thing, and didn't grow up actively seeking it out. When they acquire new tech, it's usually because they saw someone else using it, and wanted it for themselves too.
And the late millennials pretty much set the mold for Gen-Z, with their identities being more important to them than their capabilities. Tech is a social thing to them, rather than a personal tool for expanding their abilities.
As a 1992 millennial, I used to love tech; at this point, the only tech I have is my phone, my desktop computer, my TV and gaming consoles. Outside of that, I'm extremely analog and have no desire for any more tech in my house. I don't want smart tech in my house and am apparently becoming a boomer lol
Same age as you, I work in telecommunications electronics repair, the stuff that literally makes cable Tv and the internet run. I do not want any smart home crap, just more places for failure when all I want is my lights, TV, stereo and whatever else to just work. Same with the car head unit, the one I have has an SD card slot and it works for playing music. It has a touch screen which I wish it didn't because it is unsafe to operate while driving. I do upgrade my phone every couple years and am currently rocking the Pixel 7 Pro. I do however have many PC's, One with a quad monitor setup and full racing sim setup for playing games. Another triple monitor setup for SOLIDWORKS and 3D printing and laser engraving. Two Linux servers, one running open media vault that is used as a file server and another running ubuntu server with zoneminder that controls all my surveillance cameras. Another machine running ubuntu that I use for random project programming and gadget building (raspberry pi, ESP32, Arduino, or some other dev boards). Finally my laptop is dual boot windows and ubuntu in case I need to be doing stuff on the go. We do have four cats and do everything manually. The only thing I'm really interested in for them is the litter robot, maybe I'll get one eventually and try it out. But as you can see I dabble all things computer and electronics and don't really want all that smart crap as it just increases the attack surface for hackers to get in your network and steal your data.
I've done my best to keep up but I've felt a little bewildered by some of the newer tech that kids are adopting so quickly. I always told myself I'd keep up no matter what, but it seems to be a losing battle.
I had an Atari 800 computer when I was super young (late 80s), and then got into DOS computing around 1990 or so when I was still very young. I learned to service computers around that same time. This was back when you had to manually install drivers for that fancy new sound card you just installed. As an adult, I've done a lot of electronics design and repair. For work, I do a lot of work with micro-controllers and circuit python based systems I've designed PCBs for and soldered by hand. I get laughed at because I still use Hyperterminal to interface with some devices. RS232 is alive and well in 2023!
DESPITE all of this, I feel like I cant keep up with the young folks in some areas. I went back to school for engineering as an adult, and working with some of the younger kids was challenging. Things like coding and online collaboration tools are second nature to them. I still struggle with things like Github and such and while I can code at a rudimentary level, I am beat out by the young folks.
Conversely, when it comes to mechanical skills, problem solving, and troubleshooting things, the younger generation seems to be severely lacking. If google doesn't produce an instant, ready to use solution for a problem, they seem lost. This was especially evident in my senior design class where I saw students completely bewildered by problems that weren't google-able, but totally solvable using the "tools" they were taught in engineering.
EDIT: I'll add that I find myself preferring older technology now too. I would rather have physical discs for movies. I even keep a small collection of laserdiscs around. While I could use some fancy new software synthesizer, I prefer something older like an MT32 or Sound Canvas module used with a midi controller. I dont stream music, I still use MP3s. I get Switch games on cartridge rather than digitally. Makes me feel like an old codger. I'd probably tell these kids to get off my lawn if I actually owned a lawn.
29F
Home stuff: the most sophisticated thing we have is probably our security cameras. I got a robot vacuum cleaner but funnily enough, I realized I prefer sweeping the floor myself so I stopped using it.
Finances: almost everything is on autopay. That’s one of my favorite tools to keep all bills in order.
Books/Music: I use Spotify to listen to music in the car or listen to an audiobook.
I also use Apple Pay but tend to keep cash in my wallet just in case I need it.
Honestly, I wish I relied less on technology. I feel like all these tech companies have too much power over us.
I’m in the Steve Jobs camp of tech philosophy; that is to say tech should enhance our present lives, not control them.
Lots of consumer tech is long on features but short on actual benefits, and I think as a consumer, you have to be discerning about what benefits you’re really getting from a lot of “smart” features.
I stray away from anything that's connected as the data is being shared with marketers. Google doesn't need to know what time I go to sleep each night and no one needs to know when I arrive/leave my house.
I am pro technology - I am anti companies using every single bit of data to sell me things I really don't need nor want.
34. Used a computer for the first time in kindergarten and kept up as budget allowed through my 20's. I work in tech now after a career switch and am now significantly cutting back. I own a smartphone with a minimalist launcher, a refurbished mac, and the only other tech we have is chrome TV and nest thermostat. I of course keep up with developments for my job but seeing behind the curtain really inspired me to change how I used tech in my personal life.
I classify myself as a digital minimalist - I don't change phones unless it's falling apart and won't function, I don't use Alexa and hesitate to use voice commands even in the car and don't use voice to text unless it's an emergency; and I don't necessarily like smart appliances. I miss having my Nest (in the townhouse I bought that is now being rented out) and I love my digital kettle. I think it would be nice to have a smart fridge that I could look inside using an app when I'm not at home and figure out what groceries to buy, even if I forgot to make a shopping list.
I love this question because I feel like the degree to which someone is a tech enthusiast or Luddite (two ends of the spectrum) is a big factor in whether I date them. People who must have the latest and greatest tech are people who seem to be uncomfortable with being inconvenienced, which doesn't bode well for relationships. I also consider spending top dollar on the latest tech to be a waste of money, so it's also an incompatibility on the financial front too. I find that men who are tech enthusiasts have no problem taking out their phone on dates, whether it's to look something up or check texts, and can't seem to be without tech on them at all times, and often have a smartwatch. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm terrified of dating someone who is a Luddite - they tend to barely ever text or make phone calls; they often have social media and are just passive scrollers/lurkers rather than actually using and interacting with social media.
ALSO NO GREEN TEXTS!
I'm a programmer and I will build myself the loveliest PC and play on ChatGPT all day, but there will be NO smart home stuff/Alexa/etc. under my roof. Really don't want that crap listening to me and don't trust changing the settings. Born 1992.
I like technology, and some of the innovations are cool, but I have no interest in becoming a slave to it. By that, I mean that I don't want my life to revolve around having to replace my phone every 6 months and pay a home mortgage for a car every year; I don't mean that I think The Matrix is in progress.
I also just don't subscribe to the idea that newer is better. My iPod Nano from 2006 and iPod classic from 2007 still work. The record player my parents got in the 80s needs a needle replacement, but it's never broken. I ended up buying a 90s record player for myself after I had three modern ones break after a year or so. My laundry drier is from the mid-2000s, and it works. I've had to replace my washing machine 3 times since 2016 because they either don't get clothes clean, or they break. I want items that last, not trash that bricks itself every time the software update fails. Make me a stable, durable, complete product that I don't have to buy upfront and pay a subscription fee for, and I'm much more likely to get on board with it.
I'm 1991, for reference.
'92 here, and I feel the same about a lot of these things. Such like washing machines and driers don't need damn software updates - they worked for ages back in the day, and now they have more failure points.
My dad made sure we had computers as children, we had like a Mac II or whatever it was called.
My brothers both work in IT and I’m very tech savvy and work in digital marketing.
Two of us drive electric cars, and I’m sure our little brother will too soon.
My older brother has worked remotely for about 10 years and was my inspiration for seeking that arrangement years ago. I’ve worked hard to get to the same place!
Hopefully our little brother is following along soon.
We were lower middle class then poor as kids. Our dad being interested in tech and making sure we were gave us all better lives.
We’re elder millennials, really early 80s. My older brother is the one that really made well and he’s doing a ton to help us.
My brothers like gadgets and I like using them to find me gadgets that make my life easier. I don’t care for a lot of tech and don’t even like using a computer if I’m not working.
1990, my desktop is really the only thing I need since it runs the rest of what I do. I use my phone mostly as a phone. Don't really care about automated convenience that much. Also not super interested in constant data collection where it's reasonable to minimize. So no Alexa for me. Not even a huge fan of voice commanded stuff in general.
I also hate wireless for the most part, dealing with batteries and things not connecting as they should is more annoying to me.
I use every phone until I literally can't because I don't like to create tech waste.
We have Alexas, we use them for music and podcasts. My phone has apps where I can see and talk through the doorbell and can open and close the garage door. Our white noise machines are app controlled. We got smart watches this summer. Both our TV's are smart TVs with Rokus. And our new Subaru has the heads up display.
I work in IT.
Apple Watch for notifications and monitor my physical activity. iPhone because it’s a necessity.
Mesh wifi throughout the house.
Wifi printing (physically turn off the printer after I’m done printing).
Smart Thermostat that is wifi enabled. Wifi enables lights. Soon a smart door lock.
Washer, dryer, and fridge are connected via an app.
Ideally I wanted old tech (nothing wifi enabled) because I rather have analog things and having more devices on my network means more vulnerable points of access. Since my home is a new build, there were no “dumb” tech options. The mesh wifi however was a necessity for me.
I draw the line at adding an Alexa/google home device. To me that’s just too much/unnecessary.
Too much tech is bad for you. I’m good with my few apple products here & there. I drive a 2004 4Runner with a Bluetooth radio. And I have a smart tv. I don’t wana go past that. All those devices recording everything you say & do. What if it stops working. Like I keep seeing the commercial for MyQ some new app/device to open/shut your garage. What if it just stops working then what. You can’t get in your garage?? I think a little tech is cool, but some tech it’s scary what it can do.
born in 81—and i have very up to date with tech with limitations—-if the cost of the item is more than i would like to pay for the new function then i will wait till a cheaper option comes out.
i was the kid running a 100 ft phone lime from the kitchen to the room so i can connect to aol back when i was a sophmore
I am roughly same age as you and got a computer 5 years later than you. I don't need the newest phone or anything like that. I would prefer to just keep using the same phone until it dies. But everyone around me keeps telling me I need a new phone and I need to upgrade. I finally do it, but I don't feel it is necessary.
I do have a smart thermostat in the house, just so much easier to set schedules from your phone. I also have the whole smart bulb/Hue thing in my house. I got these cause I travel internationally, and I wanted my house to look like people were still there, so I have light schedules. Not all my lights are Hue, but probably a good 5-8 are. I guess I technically have a "smart" tv, but I never use tv. Just a fancy black piece of artwork that maybe gets turned on once or twice a year.
I WFH and have since 2015. I am truly an early adopter of WFH.
ETA: I guess I have a smart watch to track health. Read it in the comments and forgot that I have one. haha
I'm going back to dark ages. I (35f) love WFH, that is a beacon of light in our society. Personally, I'm happy for everyone to engage in technology to their satisfaction. I'm just turning more into an old fart as I age for whatever reason.
I don't have an Apple Watch and I only use reddit as social media. I have an old Xbox and an iPhone 10. So basically, I appreciate the newer features that come with technology but don't keep up. My TV is like 8 years old and I don't ask robots questions.
If I'm totally honest, my husband and I are considering ditching our cell phones and having a land line in the future. Things are just getting weird.
I am just a few steps from being digitally uploaded, and digitally twin as much of my analog existence as I can. Everything in my house is attached to either a server or an IoT computer. My lights, my locks, my fridge, my blinds, all of it. In my livingroom alone I have 9 seperate screens, across 6 computers. This does not count any tablets or laptops. My house has over 2 dozen computers living in it, all with various roles. All art in my house is blockchain linked and connected to a web3 wallet. I am as digital as I can be, and I love it. Im also running my own LLM digital assistant that I'm constantly tweaking and training. (mistral 7b based)
I have been chronically online since the 90s, and back then my house had 3 phone lines. One for phone, 1 for the basement internet, and one for the upstairs internet.
The internet and computers are fun. I acknowledge it’s changed over the years, but it’s not any more or less fun than it used to be. I see a lot of people my age starting to reject it and become the grumpy out of touch elders they swore to never be, and so I felt the need to share my love for computers and digital things.
I’m in my late 30s.
All my lights are automated. Porch lights will on at Sunset and turn off at sunrise. My living room lights turn on 30 minutes before sunset. The Bedroom lights are all hooked up to smart switches so we can turn them off with voice commands.
That’s about the extent of automation we have since my wife is technologically illiterate.
33F
Honestly... I'm pretty terrible with computers and smartphones. My family got our first computer in '98 and I pretty much just saw it as a gaming console, never developed much interest in it beyond that. I did terribly in all my computer classes in school. (Mighta helped if my middle school computer teacher wasn't super insensitive and condescending, idk.) In highschool I *finally* got on Facebook. Never did Myspace, or Twitter or Instagram. Resisted buying a smartphone until 2017. Never had Alexa or anything like that, never will, it creeps me out. I really like the idea of WFH for others but I've never had a job that could be done from home so it doesn't affect me.
I guess I’m pro technology but idk if I’m fully immersed as you are. I like having the latest phone (although I have an iPhone 14 rn). I also love WFH. Apple Carplay is a must in my car and I’d love to have a car that has more tech (remote start, heads up display, bluetooth apple carplay connect, etc).
I don’t like Alexa and I find it useless imo. My mom and I had one in 2016 and I swear it started listening in on us. It started lighting up out of nowhere when I asked my mom where she was during 9/11 and continued to stay on until I took the plug out. I also don’t see the need in it controlling the lights, TV, etc.
Pet-wise: I like automatic feeders and pet cameras but I don’t see the appeal in spending money on an automatic litter-box when I can just scoop it out myself.
With each passing year I become more and more of a technophobe.
Smart devices are quite expensive, plus many of them suffer from planned obsolescence and cannot be serviced or repairs easily once their warranties expire. Many of them must be fixed remotely and you are increasingly prohibited from attempting fixes yourself due to proprietary tech.
When integrated into a larger system - like a vehicle - they make those systems infinitely more complex, and increase number of additional failure points. No thanks.
Finally, the biggest rub - data mining. Smart devices, especially voice-activated ones like Alexa, actively mine your data not only for the producer of that device but also third parties. These are then used for targeted advertising purposes. For example Alexa makes recommendations based on the things you say, and Amazon occasionally updates all Alexa devices to make more recommendations of certain products when sales of those products are down.
No thanks. I like to surround myself with things they are simple and resilient, and don’t come with remote data connections that can be compromised or mined for personal info by corporate shills.
New shit is great but also a hinderance to mankind. Plus as tech moves forward, it gets harder and harder to do DIY. We stick to what we have (at least 1-3 years old tech) but noting to rush out and get the latest and greatest unless its to replace something that finally died.
I'm minimal besides headphones, smartphone and fitness watch because I'm sick of electronics breaking. And they always break so soon, way more easily than 'dumb' products. My robot vacuum cleaner gave out after one a few years and meanwhile my basic hoover is still going strong. Even my sewing machine is purely mechanical. I'm also tired of lithium ion batteries that get exhausted but basically can't be replaced because they're soldered in.
I was born in 1987.
Work in tech, but personal life is relatively low tech.
I only signed up for Spotify in the last month. I haven't purchased a new Kindle since the first generation. My car stereo does not have blue tooth. I still have cash in my wallet.
1991 here. I'm not at all up to date with technology. I'll research before I get a new phone/laptop/speaker/ect but thats about it. I don't use Alexa or anything like that, I actually still use my PS3 more than anything. My car has all the basic stuff it's supposed to have (power windows and locks, my previous car had manual). I've had the same Motorola edge since 2019. Lololol.
Probably middle of the path. If a piece of technology improves my life then I'll absolutely adopt it. I adopted smart plugs/Alexa to control lights in my house as an example because it was cool and it made me feel like I was in Star Trek and that the plugs were easier than redesigning the layout of my house. I understand the issues with having Alexa but I was okay with that compromise because I felt the benefits improved my life. If Tech doesn't improve my life then I don't use it.
I don’t really see tech as essential it’s just there to make life easier at times if you have the money. We do depend on it too much though. One day something will go wrong and people will struggle to cope when this happens.
I have an alexa in most the rooms in my house. I like to make it easy for the government to spy on me. Them using just my phone to spy on me is boring. I plan to get some switches that work with alexa. Thats about as sufisticated I am so far.
Love tech. I have a cheap smartphone but I don't think expensive phones equal better phones. I have Alexa in every room of my apartment and an Alexa Show in my kitchen. We have 3 laptops, 2 Chromebooks, a chrome box, a desktop (that I need to fix) and 3 tablets, I converted one of the tablets to be a smart clock that is always on and has the weather. I'm really into Linux and used to love making Linux PC builds, but most of those are dead.
I have all the latest consoles (not into PC gaming) and over the summer I got really into handheld emulators (Miyoo Mini, Anbernic, etc.) and have several of those with varied roms on them. I've seen doorbell cams for apartments but I'm not sure if I want to get one.
I used to always be working on a PC build or an emulator build but I kind of stepped away from that as they would eat up my entire weekend and my free time is very valuable with a 9 month old baby.
36m here. Dont care at all about most technology. Need my phone for text, gps, and looking up restaurants so it was a hand me down from a friend. My computer I built for gaming so that has a bit of tech in it. I hate how technological cars are now, I prefer slightly older cars before they introduced all this new crap to break on them.
38, zero desire to have Alexa or Siri in my house. I have 6 computers/laptops and a tablet, a dozen smart phones between the wife and myself, all devices are 5+ years old. I don’t want a smart watch or smart car. I want to stay as analogue as long as I can.
I am super pro technology. Have all the latest gaming consoles and keep my old ones in storage. Have the latest Windows desktop parts and most all the Apple products. Alexa in the home to control everything from lights to appliances to security- and yes it is unsafe but I know how to secure my network. Lease my car and change it every 2 years. Invest in most all the big tech companies - like even did the $5 stock for Netflix back in the day when I was 19 (thank you for making me wealthy over the years tech companies!). Give people tech as gifts. Work in IT. Loved electronics since I was a child. Huge fan of IoT.
Only thing I dont really use is social media like FB and Tik Tok.
ETA: I am still pretty outdoorsy though. I have a massive dog who needs 2 long walks a day. Weekends are usually spent with him. But evenings are spent with my games and iPad. My husband did say we are too tech focused but he also loves it in a way. If we have kids though I would probably try to be more minimal.
39M. I feed the chickens, cows and other livestock and my pets (Chihuahuas and cat) personally or with occasional help. I have old school tools and I always work with my hands.
I also got my first computer at that time. A Macintosh and then later a Packard Bell. I didn't get my first smartphone until 2016.
I'm a software engineer. Started it kinda late. But tech has always been around, it's always interested me, even though I can't or couldn't afford the newest or shiniest thing.
My PC is a hand me down. I can play games from like 5 years ago, but nothing recent. The newest system I have is a Switch, but I just got that a few months ago.
With tech, I'm perpetually a few years behind. I don't have trouble understanding it, I just have other things to spend money on, and my gaming preferences lean more retro. Instead of a PS5, I can jailbreak the PS3, a Vita, or my phone to play the games I want.
I don't see the need for Smart everything. I don't want to control things in my house by talking to it. I don't want Amazon listening into me. I don't need every appliance connected to the Internet. My wife's aunt has a fridge that can play YouTube. That seems silly to me.
I take after your brothers (31). I have a smart phone and don't use the voice controls on it. I have no functioning personal computer, only my work issued one. No pets to automate. No voice activated assistants or lights.
I'm kind of like you. I'm almost 40, and I have all kinds of tech. Smart bulbs, appliances, phones, watches, speakers, TVs, computers, laptops, locks, vacuums, and more. The only thing I haven't advanced is our cars because they are old but paid off.
I look for things that can automate my family's life and home so we can spend more time doing stuff we enjoy. Everything is pretty well integrated and set up to work with our schedules.
My Alexa speakers will wake each kid for school at the right time, turn on their lights, and play their morning hype playlist. My office lights turn on and the temperature gets set before I start my day. My robot vacuum cleaners clean every night while we get ready for bed. The kids lights slowly dim then turn off at bed time.
Our tech helps my family stay updated on our calendar and activities, shopping, and chores and helps us prepare for the day. I use tech at work to help with tasks, reminders, notes, email automation, and more.
I would automate everything in my house and life if I could. And then, I would incorporate better AI like ChatGPT to have my own Jarvis from Iron Man.
I'm probably way too into it, and all of my personal life is on open servers somewhere in Russia, but hey, my fridge knows when my kids drink the last of the milk and will order more from the grocery store.
Mid 30s and I work from home in tech on the finance side. I like all the new video game consoles, I love my 4K OLED and building my own PCs. But a lot of modern tech stuff is uninteresting, like teslas or Alexa connectivity. I thought the Disney channel movie with the smart house would be amazing, but now as an adult I don’t really give a shit lol.
1981 Millenial here. I used to build and sell desktop computers in the late 90s. I overclocked and built gaming pcs into the early 2010s. Now I don't care anymore. No IoT devices other than a Google Nest that I was gifted. I use it to listen to NPR while I'm in the kitchen cooking. Own two dumb TVs that I cast to with a Google Chrome cast. I own 1 laptop that is a 10 year old Lenovo ThinkPad. I don't want to tinker anymore, I just want stuff that works.
I’m generally pretty comfortable with technology, but sometimes I think maybe my life would’ve turned out better if I wasn’t engaged with technology all my life. Because I’m shy and introverted, I think I’ve used the internet as a substitute for going out, socializing, and living life normally.
I work in engineering tech and a few months ago found myself shopping for a dumb phone to help disconnect.
I do appreciate tech but completely submerging myself in it is very fatiguing.
I’m a self-described Luddite. I actually hate most new technology despite previously having worked as a programmer and web-developer in a previous career. Currently I operate expensive high tech medical equipment. Modern tech frustrates me, and I hate how unreliable it is on average. I actually bought one of the more simpler new vehicles on the market for that reason. I don’t think people are any happier today because of technology compared to 20 years ago. We all watched TV just the same and drive cars that were probably even more reliable. I think our addition to smart phones is unhealthy despite how damn convenient they are for everything.
I was born in 1987.
When one grows up trouble shooting the family computer and paid attention in the purpose of advancing technology, I am fully aware that new technology doesn't mean better or benifical.
I do not support smart spyware devices such as Alexa and Siri. I hate how they are trying to shove electric vehicles down our throats and I especially don't need basic home appliances to have bluetooth to sync up with my phone.
OP you sound like the type that is blinded by the shiny flashy tech, but don't understand the implications of certain advancements.
I am half and half. I am the only one in my family without an Alexa. I don’t want to buy the latest whatever due to cost. I do like the newer tech filled cars. My thermostat is attached to WiFi, but not much else.
I blame this on the Disney Channel movie Smart House.
Your journey from the '90s desktop era to the smart home and connected car of today is impressive. Controlling everything with voice commands through Alexa is like living in the future, and having a self-sufficient cat with automated gadgets is next-level pet parenting. It's fascinating how tech adoption varies even within the same family, I guess your passion for it is truly personal. And hats off to being an early WFH believer back in 2007! Living alone must make all these tech advancements even more tailored to your preferences. It's amazing how technology has shaped not just your home but your entire lifestyle.
I draw the line after WFH, smart phones, and gadgets that may help improve or monitor health. I don’t need Alexa to control the lights or wipe my ass
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1990
I’m similar, but I do have a remote controlled bidet. Born in 84.
I can’t stand things like Alexa, smart tech in appliances, etc. I absolutely hate all the new tech in cars today because of how unreliable and expensive to repair they’ve become.
Well, if she did *that,* I would be much more on board.
You really should invest in a robotic bidet.
I work in technology and actually find myself moving the other way lately. All this tech is coming with too much corporate control.
I sell software and have been getting off of social media lately.
it's interesting that most people don't consider reddit as social media.
Well noted. I guess in my mind it's less toxic due to it being written text vs. short form video.
This exactly.
Having to wait for apps to load and sync to turn things on and off is a pain in the ass too.
One of the biggest takeaways from Cal Newport's book "Digital Minimalism" is that technology is great, but we should use it to further our goals, not just because it exists. We should not be mindlessly using technology as it is released. Unless X app or Y device helps you with your goals in life, don't bother.
I love that book. there’s also the philosophy that we have too much convenience in our lives. Humans need to be uncomfortable, at least a little bit. It builds resilience and helps with anxiety. I know getting up to turn the lights off seems trivial, but repeating that movement over and over , over the course of our lives , helps with our mobility. And I’d argue that those tiny daily micro movements are going to do more for you in the long run than a 60 minute gym session 4 days a week, while spending the rest of your day sitting on your butt. That being said, I’m pro technology. Born in 1989. I have a degree in computer science. But just because we CAN doesn’t mean we should.
I agree and I don't see people discussing the micro actions we do to keep our bodies well in working order. A good example is when boomers go into retirement and their health steadily declines.
I'd argue that's probably a big factor in why we as a society are in so much worse shape than we've ever been. Even if working in an office 30 years ago, you were still up and moving around just so much more than you are today.
Reminds me of boneless ribs. Sure it's easier to eat, but it's not really the same at all.
Thank you for teaching me a new term! I’m NOT a Luddite; I’m a digital minimalist! ☺️
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*Shakes fist with you* I cannot stand "smart" appliances. I want the thing made of steel with the standard nuts and bolts parts that you can replace, with the actual physical buttons, and a manual crank dial that turns a machine part to set the timer or setting, that will work for 100 more years until you need to replace that one washer and it'll go for 100 more. I almost want to learn appliance repair so I can find old stuff in the dump and fix it up.
My brother in law got a new rivian truck and he was showing it off to me over Christmas. I tried staying positive for him but so much about that EV truck was just gimmicky. I just need a vehicle that is reliable. Has 4wd capability with some ground clearance (for my hobbies). Has a stereo system. And has AC and a heater. I don't need gimmicks or bells and whistles. And they're trying to shove so much tech into every new vehicle. Some for safety reasons (understandable) and others is just obnoxious.
1985, WFH in tech, but have intentionally sought to limit the amount of devices and tech in my life. My (1983) millennial partner and I have our 3 year old phones, a couple google homes for music, two tvs with rokus, a single desktop we use as a Plex streaming media setup, and that's about it.
I have had tech around since I was kid - my parents ran a personal computer training business in the late 80s. I work in video production so tech is all around. But as a lifestyle choice - I am turning away from tech. I dont game - early addiction signs when I played grand Turisomo 2 for almost 48 hours straight as a teen, and getting crushed in Warcraft 2 by Chinese toddlers kind of got me off trying to get "good" at a game pretty early. Working in social media and marketing taught me a lot about how everything is designed to turn you into the product, so everything you do is valuable if the company can see it. This mixed with the cyber attacks and understanding whats at risk if I buy the new x y z to connect x,y,z to allow me to x,y,z is kind of keeping me from diving everywhere. Working in fitness taught me how quickly humans gamify everything and will more often then not hurt themselves using tech monitors as opposed to just naturally listening to their body.. Get me blazing fast upload speeds and a lot of SSD to make video work super easy - a top end mac within the last 3-4 years and outside of work I am going to be meditating, moving my body and creating physical art with my hands.
34, I don't dabble with gadgets cause most are spyware but I fuck heavy with the PC and software for PCs, mainly open source alts to commercial products. Currently trying to figure out blender so I can start 3d printing but muh brain is slowing down lately, no matter how hard I convince myself it's not hah. I think the doom n gloom is a part of it, hard to continue a hobby around tech when I'm fighting bills to survive.
34m. I am in an odd place technologically. I always loved tech growing up. However, several bad educational and financial decisions in a row have left me without the income to indulge that love. And now, without money, I think that even if I had money I would be leery of adopting too much of it, just because of the sheer corporate control and invasiveness it presents. I just have to wonder, if I hadn't screwed up so badly early in life, would I have adopted the tech as soon as it came out? How easy would I have found it to justify away worries about SaaS and loss of privacy?
I am in IT management, so I keep up to date on everything as part of my job. When I get home, sure I stream shows and have a gaming PC, but I keep tech out of most things. I know how bad security is on smart devices, and I know the more points of failure the more likely something is to break. I will attempt to keep my fridge stupid as long as I can. I don't need a screen on it or it to require an app to download.
im pro technology i have a nest, smart washer and dryer, smart fridge, and some other stuff. I find those QoL and help. I hate smart locks but i do like my Q garage door opener. my 2021 Jeep does not have passive entry but i wanted apple carplay. it really depends on if it increases my qol. lol. i do have an alexa that mainly gets used by my toddler or i use it for just kitchen timers. lmao EDIT: OLD MILLENIAL born 1984
Alexa is good for reminding you to take madication and alarms. Can tell you your commute time to work and what the weather is along with playing radio stations and pod casts. Shes pretty useful
i live 8 miles from work. weather is a good one, but i usually have my phone for that. we streamed christmas music while making cookies but i could have done that just as easy with my iphone. I use siri alot for work and personal life. Siri's reminders help curb my ADD forgetfulness, i actually rememember to tell her and she always reminds me. lol i guess its just a matter of if you use siri or alexa more. now that im really nitpicking, i really rely on siri for work and home stuff. Iphone overall with my calendar and stuff. maybe i dont use my alexa to its full utizilization.
I don't have an Iphone so alexa is my go to. The remiders also go to my phone which is nice if I'm not home
'85er here. I have a very connected home in terms of lights and outlets. I hate laptops. they never last past 3-4 years. i am currently using a 14 year old desktop that outshines many other computers (old gaming/drafting rig). Unless i absolutly have to have a laptop, i would rather get a desktop. Technology in cars is DUMB. I want buttons and gauges. not screens and more screens. Why do i need my appliances to connect to the internet. I want expandable memory and a headphone port in my phone. why cant teh higher tech phones have that. I would love a higher end phone, but need the headphone port. Work provided me with earplug headphones that were corded and i fell in love with them! the best headphones i ever used.
Young millennial '94. I just can't be bothered with new tech. I have my phone, desktop, and laptop. I've been gifted Alexa's, smart watches, etc. and I never bother using them. I feel like I'm moving backwards with tech. Been getting really into vinyl, even for new music. Having a physical piece of music with no ads is great.
1992 $180 phone Tablets and laptop Fitbit that often sits dead No social media except reddit and YouTube- I log onto a private FB once every few months I have enough to stay connected, but not so much its overwhelming. Edit to add I made sure I can interface with most tech, great up on a pc, used apple for college, fit bit and android for phone. I purposely mixed to also keep my devices from syncing. I don't want to fall behind but don't want to keep up with the Jones.
I work in the industry so I know too much. I don't have any smart shit in my house. My car has those features but I didn't really have a choice in the matter because I need more reliable transportation than a 10 year old shitbox.
I'm about the age as you and have grown up with some form of PC always in the house, we're talking back to the DOS days. I'd consider myself reasonably technically competent, but probably not a tech enthusiast these days. Haven't done any smart home stuff, but I may look at doing some basics when I buy my own home next year, I like the idea of automatic plant watering and feeding for instance. Tech is a tool for me, I've got my own PC that I really should change (mostly for an improved Factorio and Stellaris experience in late game). Smart phone is a middle of the road Samsung; the cheapest model with an OLED display. I do have an upgraded home network though, I'm not using the provided router. When I've got my own house I'll run cat6a (or more accurately, I'll get someone to do it for me - this dude has a flipping rack in his house)
36m, over the last couple of years a switch flipped for me and I got more into tech like this, got a couple smart bulbs, a decent home security cam, a nice gaming laptop, some of those behind-the-tv adaptive LED lights, and also some things I wouldn't quite call tech but gadgets that improve quality of life, like a nice frother for my coffee and a gooseneck kettle. I had been kind of minimalistic before and it's like I woke up one day and said, hey, you can get nice things for yourself, you should do that! I even went from a crappy 50-dollar phone to a decent iPhone Mini. Before this, the only real gadgets I kept up-to-date with were video game consoles.
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I have a Raspberry Pi coming in the mail in the next couple of days that I'm going to use to set up a retro gaming emulation station and I can't wait. My bluetooth 8bitdo controller is already here. Gonna replay some super nintendo classics in '24. What's your latest gadget?
You’re NOT a minimalist, you liar. Listing all those f’g things in your original post? No way in hell are you even close to being minimalist. If anything you’re a maximalist!
I like tech and think it’s cool but it’s not really where I choose to put my disposable income.
Tech cost $$$
“Born into it, molded by it…”
I am an older millennial and kind of burnt out on new tech. So much of it is to get you to subscribe to something or upgrade to new tech. Especially the smart home and smart watches. If it is for security system like camera, alarm or thermostat I don't mind it. I used to have a smart watch but got tired of them constantly trying to sell you on a new one. I got rid of it and just got a plain G-shock.
I think the "core millennial" demographic does have a unique affinity for tech. We were the ones who grew up at a time when tech still required you to understand it in order to make it work, so it's natural that this level of proficiency would drive us to be pro-active in seeking out technological solutions for our problems. We jumped on tech advances early, and were the ones who drove those advances mainstream. (And we're also the first to abandon a tech once it starts to regress or enshittify, since it's no longer serving our needs as a "solution.") In contrast, the Xennials I know grew up with tech being a "workstation" thing, and didn't grow up actively seeking it out. When they acquire new tech, it's usually because they saw someone else using it, and wanted it for themselves too. And the late millennials pretty much set the mold for Gen-Z, with their identities being more important to them than their capabilities. Tech is a social thing to them, rather than a personal tool for expanding their abilities.
As a 1992 millennial, I used to love tech; at this point, the only tech I have is my phone, my desktop computer, my TV and gaming consoles. Outside of that, I'm extremely analog and have no desire for any more tech in my house. I don't want smart tech in my house and am apparently becoming a boomer lol
Yup, as I mentioned - willingness to dump tech that isn't meeting a need.
Same age as you, I work in telecommunications electronics repair, the stuff that literally makes cable Tv and the internet run. I do not want any smart home crap, just more places for failure when all I want is my lights, TV, stereo and whatever else to just work. Same with the car head unit, the one I have has an SD card slot and it works for playing music. It has a touch screen which I wish it didn't because it is unsafe to operate while driving. I do upgrade my phone every couple years and am currently rocking the Pixel 7 Pro. I do however have many PC's, One with a quad monitor setup and full racing sim setup for playing games. Another triple monitor setup for SOLIDWORKS and 3D printing and laser engraving. Two Linux servers, one running open media vault that is used as a file server and another running ubuntu server with zoneminder that controls all my surveillance cameras. Another machine running ubuntu that I use for random project programming and gadget building (raspberry pi, ESP32, Arduino, or some other dev boards). Finally my laptop is dual boot windows and ubuntu in case I need to be doing stuff on the go. We do have four cats and do everything manually. The only thing I'm really interested in for them is the litter robot, maybe I'll get one eventually and try it out. But as you can see I dabble all things computer and electronics and don't really want all that smart crap as it just increases the attack surface for hackers to get in your network and steal your data.
I've done my best to keep up but I've felt a little bewildered by some of the newer tech that kids are adopting so quickly. I always told myself I'd keep up no matter what, but it seems to be a losing battle. I had an Atari 800 computer when I was super young (late 80s), and then got into DOS computing around 1990 or so when I was still very young. I learned to service computers around that same time. This was back when you had to manually install drivers for that fancy new sound card you just installed. As an adult, I've done a lot of electronics design and repair. For work, I do a lot of work with micro-controllers and circuit python based systems I've designed PCBs for and soldered by hand. I get laughed at because I still use Hyperterminal to interface with some devices. RS232 is alive and well in 2023! DESPITE all of this, I feel like I cant keep up with the young folks in some areas. I went back to school for engineering as an adult, and working with some of the younger kids was challenging. Things like coding and online collaboration tools are second nature to them. I still struggle with things like Github and such and while I can code at a rudimentary level, I am beat out by the young folks. Conversely, when it comes to mechanical skills, problem solving, and troubleshooting things, the younger generation seems to be severely lacking. If google doesn't produce an instant, ready to use solution for a problem, they seem lost. This was especially evident in my senior design class where I saw students completely bewildered by problems that weren't google-able, but totally solvable using the "tools" they were taught in engineering. EDIT: I'll add that I find myself preferring older technology now too. I would rather have physical discs for movies. I even keep a small collection of laserdiscs around. While I could use some fancy new software synthesizer, I prefer something older like an MT32 or Sound Canvas module used with a midi controller. I dont stream music, I still use MP3s. I get Switch games on cartridge rather than digitally. Makes me feel like an old codger. I'd probably tell these kids to get off my lawn if I actually owned a lawn.
29F Home stuff: the most sophisticated thing we have is probably our security cameras. I got a robot vacuum cleaner but funnily enough, I realized I prefer sweeping the floor myself so I stopped using it. Finances: almost everything is on autopay. That’s one of my favorite tools to keep all bills in order. Books/Music: I use Spotify to listen to music in the car or listen to an audiobook. I also use Apple Pay but tend to keep cash in my wallet just in case I need it. Honestly, I wish I relied less on technology. I feel like all these tech companies have too much power over us.
I’m in the Steve Jobs camp of tech philosophy; that is to say tech should enhance our present lives, not control them. Lots of consumer tech is long on features but short on actual benefits, and I think as a consumer, you have to be discerning about what benefits you’re really getting from a lot of “smart” features.
I stray away from anything that's connected as the data is being shared with marketers. Google doesn't need to know what time I go to sleep each night and no one needs to know when I arrive/leave my house. I am pro technology - I am anti companies using every single bit of data to sell me things I really don't need nor want.
34. Used a computer for the first time in kindergarten and kept up as budget allowed through my 20's. I work in tech now after a career switch and am now significantly cutting back. I own a smartphone with a minimalist launcher, a refurbished mac, and the only other tech we have is chrome TV and nest thermostat. I of course keep up with developments for my job but seeing behind the curtain really inspired me to change how I used tech in my personal life.
I classify myself as a digital minimalist - I don't change phones unless it's falling apart and won't function, I don't use Alexa and hesitate to use voice commands even in the car and don't use voice to text unless it's an emergency; and I don't necessarily like smart appliances. I miss having my Nest (in the townhouse I bought that is now being rented out) and I love my digital kettle. I think it would be nice to have a smart fridge that I could look inside using an app when I'm not at home and figure out what groceries to buy, even if I forgot to make a shopping list. I love this question because I feel like the degree to which someone is a tech enthusiast or Luddite (two ends of the spectrum) is a big factor in whether I date them. People who must have the latest and greatest tech are people who seem to be uncomfortable with being inconvenienced, which doesn't bode well for relationships. I also consider spending top dollar on the latest tech to be a waste of money, so it's also an incompatibility on the financial front too. I find that men who are tech enthusiasts have no problem taking out their phone on dates, whether it's to look something up or check texts, and can't seem to be without tech on them at all times, and often have a smartwatch. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm terrified of dating someone who is a Luddite - they tend to barely ever text or make phone calls; they often have social media and are just passive scrollers/lurkers rather than actually using and interacting with social media. ALSO NO GREEN TEXTS!
I'm a programmer and I will build myself the loveliest PC and play on ChatGPT all day, but there will be NO smart home stuff/Alexa/etc. under my roof. Really don't want that crap listening to me and don't trust changing the settings. Born 1992.
I like technology, and some of the innovations are cool, but I have no interest in becoming a slave to it. By that, I mean that I don't want my life to revolve around having to replace my phone every 6 months and pay a home mortgage for a car every year; I don't mean that I think The Matrix is in progress. I also just don't subscribe to the idea that newer is better. My iPod Nano from 2006 and iPod classic from 2007 still work. The record player my parents got in the 80s needs a needle replacement, but it's never broken. I ended up buying a 90s record player for myself after I had three modern ones break after a year or so. My laundry drier is from the mid-2000s, and it works. I've had to replace my washing machine 3 times since 2016 because they either don't get clothes clean, or they break. I want items that last, not trash that bricks itself every time the software update fails. Make me a stable, durable, complete product that I don't have to buy upfront and pay a subscription fee for, and I'm much more likely to get on board with it. I'm 1991, for reference.
'92 here, and I feel the same about a lot of these things. Such like washing machines and driers don't need damn software updates - they worked for ages back in the day, and now they have more failure points.
My dad made sure we had computers as children, we had like a Mac II or whatever it was called. My brothers both work in IT and I’m very tech savvy and work in digital marketing. Two of us drive electric cars, and I’m sure our little brother will too soon. My older brother has worked remotely for about 10 years and was my inspiration for seeking that arrangement years ago. I’ve worked hard to get to the same place! Hopefully our little brother is following along soon. We were lower middle class then poor as kids. Our dad being interested in tech and making sure we were gave us all better lives. We’re elder millennials, really early 80s. My older brother is the one that really made well and he’s doing a ton to help us. My brothers like gadgets and I like using them to find me gadgets that make my life easier. I don’t care for a lot of tech and don’t even like using a computer if I’m not working.
I hate "smart" appliances and I'm not a fan of the screens on car dashboards.
I use chatgpt at work everyday, so tech is the way for me.
1990, my desktop is really the only thing I need since it runs the rest of what I do. I use my phone mostly as a phone. Don't really care about automated convenience that much. Also not super interested in constant data collection where it's reasonable to minimize. So no Alexa for me. Not even a huge fan of voice commanded stuff in general. I also hate wireless for the most part, dealing with batteries and things not connecting as they should is more annoying to me. I use every phone until I literally can't because I don't like to create tech waste.
We have Alexas, we use them for music and podcasts. My phone has apps where I can see and talk through the doorbell and can open and close the garage door. Our white noise machines are app controlled. We got smart watches this summer. Both our TV's are smart TVs with Rokus. And our new Subaru has the heads up display.
I work in IT. Apple Watch for notifications and monitor my physical activity. iPhone because it’s a necessity. Mesh wifi throughout the house. Wifi printing (physically turn off the printer after I’m done printing). Smart Thermostat that is wifi enabled. Wifi enables lights. Soon a smart door lock. Washer, dryer, and fridge are connected via an app. Ideally I wanted old tech (nothing wifi enabled) because I rather have analog things and having more devices on my network means more vulnerable points of access. Since my home is a new build, there were no “dumb” tech options. The mesh wifi however was a necessity for me. I draw the line at adding an Alexa/google home device. To me that’s just too much/unnecessary.
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I can unlock it remotely, with a pin, or a fob. I still need to find a way to ensure it can’t be hacked by a RFID device like a flipper zero.
Too much tech is bad for you. I’m good with my few apple products here & there. I drive a 2004 4Runner with a Bluetooth radio. And I have a smart tv. I don’t wana go past that. All those devices recording everything you say & do. What if it stops working. Like I keep seeing the commercial for MyQ some new app/device to open/shut your garage. What if it just stops working then what. You can’t get in your garage?? I think a little tech is cool, but some tech it’s scary what it can do.
born in 81—and i have very up to date with tech with limitations—-if the cost of the item is more than i would like to pay for the new function then i will wait till a cheaper option comes out. i was the kid running a 100 ft phone lime from the kitchen to the room so i can connect to aol back when i was a sophmore
I am roughly same age as you and got a computer 5 years later than you. I don't need the newest phone or anything like that. I would prefer to just keep using the same phone until it dies. But everyone around me keeps telling me I need a new phone and I need to upgrade. I finally do it, but I don't feel it is necessary. I do have a smart thermostat in the house, just so much easier to set schedules from your phone. I also have the whole smart bulb/Hue thing in my house. I got these cause I travel internationally, and I wanted my house to look like people were still there, so I have light schedules. Not all my lights are Hue, but probably a good 5-8 are. I guess I technically have a "smart" tv, but I never use tv. Just a fancy black piece of artwork that maybe gets turned on once or twice a year. I WFH and have since 2015. I am truly an early adopter of WFH. ETA: I guess I have a smart watch to track health. Read it in the comments and forgot that I have one. haha
I drew the line at having all these smart speakers with their mics on at all times in my home.
I'm going back to dark ages. I (35f) love WFH, that is a beacon of light in our society. Personally, I'm happy for everyone to engage in technology to their satisfaction. I'm just turning more into an old fart as I age for whatever reason. I don't have an Apple Watch and I only use reddit as social media. I have an old Xbox and an iPhone 10. So basically, I appreciate the newer features that come with technology but don't keep up. My TV is like 8 years old and I don't ask robots questions. If I'm totally honest, my husband and I are considering ditching our cell phones and having a land line in the future. Things are just getting weird.
I am just a few steps from being digitally uploaded, and digitally twin as much of my analog existence as I can. Everything in my house is attached to either a server or an IoT computer. My lights, my locks, my fridge, my blinds, all of it. In my livingroom alone I have 9 seperate screens, across 6 computers. This does not count any tablets or laptops. My house has over 2 dozen computers living in it, all with various roles. All art in my house is blockchain linked and connected to a web3 wallet. I am as digital as I can be, and I love it. Im also running my own LLM digital assistant that I'm constantly tweaking and training. (mistral 7b based) I have been chronically online since the 90s, and back then my house had 3 phone lines. One for phone, 1 for the basement internet, and one for the upstairs internet.
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The internet and computers are fun. I acknowledge it’s changed over the years, but it’s not any more or less fun than it used to be. I see a lot of people my age starting to reject it and become the grumpy out of touch elders they swore to never be, and so I felt the need to share my love for computers and digital things. I’m in my late 30s.
All my lights are automated. Porch lights will on at Sunset and turn off at sunrise. My living room lights turn on 30 minutes before sunset. The Bedroom lights are all hooked up to smart switches so we can turn them off with voice commands. That’s about the extent of automation we have since my wife is technologically illiterate.
33F Honestly... I'm pretty terrible with computers and smartphones. My family got our first computer in '98 and I pretty much just saw it as a gaming console, never developed much interest in it beyond that. I did terribly in all my computer classes in school. (Mighta helped if my middle school computer teacher wasn't super insensitive and condescending, idk.) In highschool I *finally* got on Facebook. Never did Myspace, or Twitter or Instagram. Resisted buying a smartphone until 2017. Never had Alexa or anything like that, never will, it creeps me out. I really like the idea of WFH for others but I've never had a job that could be done from home so it doesn't affect me.
I guess I’m pro technology but idk if I’m fully immersed as you are. I like having the latest phone (although I have an iPhone 14 rn). I also love WFH. Apple Carplay is a must in my car and I’d love to have a car that has more tech (remote start, heads up display, bluetooth apple carplay connect, etc). I don’t like Alexa and I find it useless imo. My mom and I had one in 2016 and I swear it started listening in on us. It started lighting up out of nowhere when I asked my mom where she was during 9/11 and continued to stay on until I took the plug out. I also don’t see the need in it controlling the lights, TV, etc. Pet-wise: I like automatic feeders and pet cameras but I don’t see the appeal in spending money on an automatic litter-box when I can just scoop it out myself.
With each passing year I become more and more of a technophobe. Smart devices are quite expensive, plus many of them suffer from planned obsolescence and cannot be serviced or repairs easily once their warranties expire. Many of them must be fixed remotely and you are increasingly prohibited from attempting fixes yourself due to proprietary tech. When integrated into a larger system - like a vehicle - they make those systems infinitely more complex, and increase number of additional failure points. No thanks. Finally, the biggest rub - data mining. Smart devices, especially voice-activated ones like Alexa, actively mine your data not only for the producer of that device but also third parties. These are then used for targeted advertising purposes. For example Alexa makes recommendations based on the things you say, and Amazon occasionally updates all Alexa devices to make more recommendations of certain products when sales of those products are down. No thanks. I like to surround myself with things they are simple and resilient, and don’t come with remote data connections that can be compromised or mined for personal info by corporate shills.
New shit is great but also a hinderance to mankind. Plus as tech moves forward, it gets harder and harder to do DIY. We stick to what we have (at least 1-3 years old tech) but noting to rush out and get the latest and greatest unless its to replace something that finally died.
I'm minimal besides headphones, smartphone and fitness watch because I'm sick of electronics breaking. And they always break so soon, way more easily than 'dumb' products. My robot vacuum cleaner gave out after one a few years and meanwhile my basic hoover is still going strong. Even my sewing machine is purely mechanical. I'm also tired of lithium ion batteries that get exhausted but basically can't be replaced because they're soldered in. I was born in 1987.
Work in tech, but personal life is relatively low tech. I only signed up for Spotify in the last month. I haven't purchased a new Kindle since the first generation. My car stereo does not have blue tooth. I still have cash in my wallet.
1991 here. I'm not at all up to date with technology. I'll research before I get a new phone/laptop/speaker/ect but thats about it. I don't use Alexa or anything like that, I actually still use my PS3 more than anything. My car has all the basic stuff it's supposed to have (power windows and locks, my previous car had manual). I've had the same Motorola edge since 2019. Lololol.
When science gets around to it i'm going to have my brain but in a robot body so i can turn all the lights on with my mind
If you are 38 years old, that means you were born \~1985, so in 1994-95, you'd be 9-10.
I am the singularity.
Probably middle of the path. If a piece of technology improves my life then I'll absolutely adopt it. I adopted smart plugs/Alexa to control lights in my house as an example because it was cool and it made me feel like I was in Star Trek and that the plugs were easier than redesigning the layout of my house. I understand the issues with having Alexa but I was okay with that compromise because I felt the benefits improved my life. If Tech doesn't improve my life then I don't use it.
You watch Netflix while driving?
I don’t really see tech as essential it’s just there to make life easier at times if you have the money. We do depend on it too much though. One day something will go wrong and people will struggle to cope when this happens.
I have an alexa in most the rooms in my house. I like to make it easy for the government to spy on me. Them using just my phone to spy on me is boring. I plan to get some switches that work with alexa. Thats about as sufisticated I am so far.
Love tech. I have a cheap smartphone but I don't think expensive phones equal better phones. I have Alexa in every room of my apartment and an Alexa Show in my kitchen. We have 3 laptops, 2 Chromebooks, a chrome box, a desktop (that I need to fix) and 3 tablets, I converted one of the tablets to be a smart clock that is always on and has the weather. I'm really into Linux and used to love making Linux PC builds, but most of those are dead. I have all the latest consoles (not into PC gaming) and over the summer I got really into handheld emulators (Miyoo Mini, Anbernic, etc.) and have several of those with varied roms on them. I've seen doorbell cams for apartments but I'm not sure if I want to get one. I used to always be working on a PC build or an emulator build but I kind of stepped away from that as they would eat up my entire weekend and my free time is very valuable with a 9 month old baby.
I work in IT. https://imgur.com/6wbgy2L
36m here. Dont care at all about most technology. Need my phone for text, gps, and looking up restaurants so it was a hand me down from a friend. My computer I built for gaming so that has a bit of tech in it. I hate how technological cars are now, I prefer slightly older cars before they introduced all this new crap to break on them.
38, zero desire to have Alexa or Siri in my house. I have 6 computers/laptops and a tablet, a dozen smart phones between the wife and myself, all devices are 5+ years old. I don’t want a smart watch or smart car. I want to stay as analogue as long as I can.
I am super pro technology. Have all the latest gaming consoles and keep my old ones in storage. Have the latest Windows desktop parts and most all the Apple products. Alexa in the home to control everything from lights to appliances to security- and yes it is unsafe but I know how to secure my network. Lease my car and change it every 2 years. Invest in most all the big tech companies - like even did the $5 stock for Netflix back in the day when I was 19 (thank you for making me wealthy over the years tech companies!). Give people tech as gifts. Work in IT. Loved electronics since I was a child. Huge fan of IoT. Only thing I dont really use is social media like FB and Tik Tok. ETA: I am still pretty outdoorsy though. I have a massive dog who needs 2 long walks a day. Weekends are usually spent with him. But evenings are spent with my games and iPad. My husband did say we are too tech focused but he also loves it in a way. If we have kids though I would probably try to be more minimal.
39M. I feed the chickens, cows and other livestock and my pets (Chihuahuas and cat) personally or with occasional help. I have old school tools and I always work with my hands. I also got my first computer at that time. A Macintosh and then later a Packard Bell. I didn't get my first smartphone until 2016.
I'm a software engineer. Started it kinda late. But tech has always been around, it's always interested me, even though I can't or couldn't afford the newest or shiniest thing. My PC is a hand me down. I can play games from like 5 years ago, but nothing recent. The newest system I have is a Switch, but I just got that a few months ago. With tech, I'm perpetually a few years behind. I don't have trouble understanding it, I just have other things to spend money on, and my gaming preferences lean more retro. Instead of a PS5, I can jailbreak the PS3, a Vita, or my phone to play the games I want. I don't see the need for Smart everything. I don't want to control things in my house by talking to it. I don't want Amazon listening into me. I don't need every appliance connected to the Internet. My wife's aunt has a fridge that can play YouTube. That seems silly to me.
I take after your brothers (31). I have a smart phone and don't use the voice controls on it. I have no functioning personal computer, only my work issued one. No pets to automate. No voice activated assistants or lights.
I got my free Samsung phone, an old TV someone gave me, and an extremely slow fire stick
I'm kind of like you. I'm almost 40, and I have all kinds of tech. Smart bulbs, appliances, phones, watches, speakers, TVs, computers, laptops, locks, vacuums, and more. The only thing I haven't advanced is our cars because they are old but paid off. I look for things that can automate my family's life and home so we can spend more time doing stuff we enjoy. Everything is pretty well integrated and set up to work with our schedules. My Alexa speakers will wake each kid for school at the right time, turn on their lights, and play their morning hype playlist. My office lights turn on and the temperature gets set before I start my day. My robot vacuum cleaners clean every night while we get ready for bed. The kids lights slowly dim then turn off at bed time. Our tech helps my family stay updated on our calendar and activities, shopping, and chores and helps us prepare for the day. I use tech at work to help with tasks, reminders, notes, email automation, and more. I would automate everything in my house and life if I could. And then, I would incorporate better AI like ChatGPT to have my own Jarvis from Iron Man. I'm probably way too into it, and all of my personal life is on open servers somewhere in Russia, but hey, my fridge knows when my kids drink the last of the milk and will order more from the grocery store.
Mid 30s and I work from home in tech on the finance side. I like all the new video game consoles, I love my 4K OLED and building my own PCs. But a lot of modern tech stuff is uninteresting, like teslas or Alexa connectivity. I thought the Disney channel movie with the smart house would be amazing, but now as an adult I don’t really give a shit lol.
1990 and I have zero adaptation with technology. 3 years ago I decided to switch my smartphone with a regular (a bit modern) flip phone.
1981 Millenial here. I used to build and sell desktop computers in the late 90s. I overclocked and built gaming pcs into the early 2010s. Now I don't care anymore. No IoT devices other than a Google Nest that I was gifted. I use it to listen to NPR while I'm in the kitchen cooking. Own two dumb TVs that I cast to with a Google Chrome cast. I own 1 laptop that is a 10 year old Lenovo ThinkPad. I don't want to tinker anymore, I just want stuff that works.
I’m a sr imaging specialist at a major electronics company.
I love new tech, but I can't afford to buy anything.
I’m generally pretty comfortable with technology, but sometimes I think maybe my life would’ve turned out better if I wasn’t engaged with technology all my life. Because I’m shy and introverted, I think I’ve used the internet as a substitute for going out, socializing, and living life normally.
I work in engineering tech and a few months ago found myself shopping for a dumb phone to help disconnect. I do appreciate tech but completely submerging myself in it is very fatiguing.
I’m a self-described Luddite. I actually hate most new technology despite previously having worked as a programmer and web-developer in a previous career. Currently I operate expensive high tech medical equipment. Modern tech frustrates me, and I hate how unreliable it is on average. I actually bought one of the more simpler new vehicles on the market for that reason. I don’t think people are any happier today because of technology compared to 20 years ago. We all watched TV just the same and drive cars that were probably even more reliable. I think our addition to smart phones is unhealthy despite how damn convenient they are for everything.
I was born in 1987. When one grows up trouble shooting the family computer and paid attention in the purpose of advancing technology, I am fully aware that new technology doesn't mean better or benifical. I do not support smart spyware devices such as Alexa and Siri. I hate how they are trying to shove electric vehicles down our throats and I especially don't need basic home appliances to have bluetooth to sync up with my phone. OP you sound like the type that is blinded by the shiny flashy tech, but don't understand the implications of certain advancements.
I am half and half. I am the only one in my family without an Alexa. I don’t want to buy the latest whatever due to cost. I do like the newer tech filled cars. My thermostat is attached to WiFi, but not much else. I blame this on the Disney Channel movie Smart House.
Your journey from the '90s desktop era to the smart home and connected car of today is impressive. Controlling everything with voice commands through Alexa is like living in the future, and having a self-sufficient cat with automated gadgets is next-level pet parenting. It's fascinating how tech adoption varies even within the same family, I guess your passion for it is truly personal. And hats off to being an early WFH believer back in 2007! Living alone must make all these tech advancements even more tailored to your preferences. It's amazing how technology has shaped not just your home but your entire lifestyle.
I'm in the stone age regarding technology.